Flag holder



Nov. 11, 1969 R. s. DR-EXLER FLAG HOLDER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 11. 1967 INVENTOR.

RA YMON 5. DREXLER ww wgmflmm ATTORNEYS R. S. DREXLER FLAG HOLDER Nov. 11, 1969 Q 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 11,. 1967 INVENTOR. RAvMo/v 5. DREXLER BY 200M, WW,W

4 lib, A rromvc vs United States Patent 3,477,161 FLAG HOLDER Raymon S. Drexler, 1452 NW. 17th St., Miami, Fla. 33125 Filed Aug. 11, 1967, Ser. No. 659,980

Int. Cl. G091? 17/00, 19/02 U.S. Cl. 40-218 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention The field of the invention is generally flagstatfs.

Description of the prior art Many different flag poles, flagstafis, and flag holders are known to the art. They range in size from the massive structures found in public parks to miniature structures adapted for use with an automobile antenna, such as shown in Howland 3,127,869. The patents to Keats, No. 3,119,370, and Crowder, No. 2,909,147, are illustrative of other flag supporting devices.

Despitethe wide variety and size range of flag supporting devices known to the prior art, there is a need for a device, useable both indoors and outdoors, which will support a flag vertically, horizontally or at an intermediate angle, and will provide an air current to flutter the flag in the absence of a breeze. The present invention provides such a flag holder and in addition provides for advertising plaques to be used on each side of the flag. It is not contemplated that such advertising plaques would be used, however, when the device is being used to support our national or state colors, but rather when used for advertising or organization flags, banners and the like.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is an improved flag holder for supporting a flag either indoors or outdoors and providing a current of air to flutter the flag in the absence of a breeze. A hollow tubular mast is supported by a base containing a blower arranged to discharge air through the hollow mast and through air ports located on either side of the flag, thereby providing an air current to flutter the flag. The mast may also be provided with advertising plaques to carry advertising messages. The plaques are generally elongated rectangular in shape and are mounted on either side of the flag with the longer side generally parallel to the mast.

In order to prevent the flag from being wrapped about the mast by a breeze, the flag support, which may be formed in a variety of shapes as described in detail below, may be rotatably mounted on the mast by means of bearings. Also, the advertising plaques may be arranged to provide a weathervane type of action, orienting the rotatable flag support such that it is always on the downwind side of the mast.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved flag holder.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a flag holder which is usable either indoors or outdoors.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a flag holder that will flutter a flag in the absence of a breeze.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a flag holder having an improved flag support.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a flag holder that will prevent the flag from getting wrapped around the mast by the wind.

Still another objectof the present invention is to provide a flag holder adapted to carry an advertising message.

These and other objects and advantages will become apparent as the description proceeds, reference being bad to the attached drawings and appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an elevation view of one embodiment of the flag holder of the present invention, partly in section.

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view taken generally along the line 22 of FIG. 1 and showing one embodiment of the flag support.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 2 showing another embodiment of the flag support.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view also similar to that of FIG. 2 showing still another embodiment of the flag support.

FIG. 5 is an elevation view of another embodiment of the flag holder of the present invention showing advertising plaques attached to the mast.

FIG. 6 illustrates how the mast may be removed from the base and supported at an angle to the vertical in a conventional wall-mounted mast support.

FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view taken generally along the line 7-7 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 8 is a generally perspective view of the flag holder of FIG. 5 with the advertising plaques and flag removed therefrom.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a flag holder, indicated generally, at 11, holding a flag 12. The flag holder 11 includes a base 13, a tubular mast 14, and may have a decorative top ornament 16. Within the base 13 is mounted an electric motor 21 and a blower 22. The motor 21 is powered by a conventional electrical source represented by a cord 23 and plug 24, and may drive the blower 22 by means of a belt 26. The blower may be turned on and 01f by a switch 25.

The blower 22 discharges air through a conduit 27, through the hollow tubular mast 14, and through a plurality of air ports 28 located on either side of a flag support.

The flag support may be formed in several ways as illustrated in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4. FIG. 2 shows a flag support 29 having a generally L-shape cross section, the shorter leg of the L 29a being affixed to the mast 14 and the longer leg of the L 2% extending substantially radially from the mast 14. The flag 12 may be fastened to the flag support 29 of FIG. 2 by means of threaded fasteners 34 inserted through a plurality of holes in the leg 29b of the flag support and through eyes in the heading of the flag 12 FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the flag supports indicated at 31, wherein the flag support has a generally keyhole shape cross section, having a base portion 31a and side portions 31b. The base portion 31a is affixed to the mast 14. In this embodiment, the flag support 29 is preferably formed of a resilient material so that the side portions 31b may grip the heading of the flag 12. Alternatively, it may be nonresilient, and the heading of the flag be inserted in it from one end and slid into position.

FIG. 4 shows still another embodiment of the flag support, indicated at 32, wherein the flag support is tubular and has a longitudinal opening running substantially its full length. The flag support 32 lies within and tangent to the mast 14. The mast 14 is provided with a similar longitudinal opening in register with the opening of the flag support to form a common opening 33, which extends to and is open to the top of the mast 14.

The flag support 32 may be integrally formed with the mast 14 by extruded metal or plastic, or they may be formed from a larger diameter metal tubing having a circumference approximately equal to the circumference of the mast 14 plus the circumference of the flag support 32, by well-known forming methods.

To mount a flag in the flag support 32, the heading of the flag is inserted into the flag support 32 at the top of the mast and slid downwardly into place. Flags having a rope sewn into the heading are particularly well adapted for use with this embodiment of the flag support 32.

Each of FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 show the air ports 28, which are so positioned that they direct air along the sides of the flag 12 causing it to flutter. In some applications it may be desirable to provide deflectors 36, aflixed to the mast 14 as shown in FIG. 4, to assist in directing the air exhausted from the air ports 28 along the fiag.

FIG. 5 shows the flag holder of the present invention with advertising plaques 41 on either side of the flag 12. The mast 1 4, with or without the advertising plaques 41, may be removed from the base 13 and placed in another supporting means, such as the wall bracket 42 as shown in FIG. 6.

The advertising plaques 41 are detachably mounted on the mast 14 by means of mounting blocks 43 as best shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. A flag support such as the flag support 31, may be afiixed as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 to the longer parallel side of each mounting block 43. The mounting blocks 43 are generally trapezoidal in shape and have a hole 44 for receiving the mast 14. In each nonparallel side of the mounting block 43 are a pair of tapped holes 46 for receiving machine screws 47 for detachably mounting the advertising plaques 41 as best shown in FIG. 7. Mounting the advertising plaques 41 at an angle to each other rather than parallel provides a weathervane type action so that when the mast 14 is provided with a rotatable bearing, indicated at 49, rotatably coupling the upper portion of the mast to the lower portion of the mast, the upper portion of the mast will be positioned by the wind so that the flag 12 is downwind. This feature prevents the flag from becoming wrapped around the mast 14 and also from covering up the advertising message on the advertising plaques 41. Also, when the mast is supported as shown in FIG. 6, the bearing 49 permits the upper portion of the mast 14 and the advertising plaques 41 to swing back and forth in the breeze, thereby attracting greater attention than would a fixed display.

It will be apparent from the above description that the present invention provides a flag holder which is usable either indoors or outdoors, will flutter a flag in the absence of a breeze, has an improved flag support for attaching a flag to its mast, and will prevent a flag from becoming wrapped around the mast by wind. Furthermore, the present invention provides a flag holder adapted to carry advertising plaques, and thereby provides an effective attention-getting advertising means.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, the same is to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive in character, it being understood that only the preferred embodiments have been shown and described and that all changes and modifications that come within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the claims are also desired to be protected. For example, the blower may be directly driven by an electric motor and need not be belt driven as shown in the drawings. Similarly, rather than providing a bearing 49 in the mast, a bearing 51 may be provided for each mounting block 43, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8.

The invention claimed is:

1. A flag holder comprising:

a mast;

a pair of mounting blocks mounted on said mast;

a flag support atfixed to said mounting blocks; and

advertising plaques detachably mounted to said mounting blocks.

2. The invention according to claim 1 wherein said mounting blocks are generally trapezoidal in shape, having a tapped hole in each nonparallel side thereof for receiving a machine screw for detachably mounting advertising plaques to said blocks, said blocks each having a hole for receiving said mast, and said flag support being affixed to the longer parallel side of each of said trapezoidal mounting blocks.

3. The invention according to claim 2 further comprising bearing means rotatably coupling an upper portion of said mast to a lower portion of said mast.

4. The invention of claim 2 further comprising bearing means rotatably mounting said mounting blocks to said mast.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGN PATENTS 6/1942 Germany.

EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner WENCESLAO I. CONTRERAS, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

